Barnes Brinkcraft
Sector
Service
Partnership
Support
- Communications Strategy & Activation
- Campaign Planning
- Content Creation
- Email Marketing
- Graphic Design
- Customer Communications
- Social Media Marketing
- Paid Advertising
Strengthening an In-House Team With Strategic Communications Expertise
Barnes Brinkcraft is one of the best-known names on the Norfolk Broads, with a long-established reputation for helping people enjoy holidays on the water. Offering a diverse portfolio that includes holiday boats, day boats and holiday cottages, the business has built a loyal customer base and, importantly, generates more than 50% of its bookings directly.
Our initial conversations with Barnes Brinkcraft were slightly different from many of the businesses we work with. They already had an experienced and capable Marketing Manager in place, so they weren't looking to outsource marketing entirely. Instead, they wanted to strengthen their marketing function in the same way they had successfully expanded other areas of the business: by bringing in specialist external support.
What they needed wasn't simply extra hands to help deliver activity. They needed a strategic communications partner. Someone who could help shape the thinking behind campaigns, provide expert guidance, develop the strategy and organise the delivery. In simple terms, they needed an extension of the team and an additional marketing brain around the table.
The Challenge
Barnes Brinkcraft came to Fruit with a challenge we don’t often encounter.
They already had an experienced marketing leader in place and a strong understanding of their business, customers and market. What they didn’t have was enough strategic resource to deliver the scale and consistency of communications activity they wanted across the business.
As the business continued to grow, the marketing function needed to grow with it.
Rather than recruiting internally, Barnes Brinkcraft chose to extend their marketing team in the same way they had successfully expanded other business functions using outsourced specialist support.
However, they weren’t looking for purely tactical support. They didn’t simply need someone to write social media posts or send emails. They needed a strategic communications partner. Someone who could help shape the ideas, build the plans, provide expert advice and oversee delivery.
Adding to the challenge was the complexity of the business itself. With distinct separate businesses of the holiday boats, day boats and holiday cottages sitting under the Barnes Brinkcraft brand, communications needed to work across multiple audiences, multiple channels and multiple customer journeys.
“Jo and Fruit Marketing have been an absolute joy to work with. They have become a core part of our business, producing great work year on year and constructively challenging us to do better.”
Sara Thwaites, Barnes Brinkcraft Director of Marketing Manager & Customer Services
“Jo and Fruit Marketing have been an absolute joy to work with. They have become a core part of our business, producing great work year on year and constructively challenging us to do better.”
Sara Thwaites, Barnes Brinkcraft Director of Marketing Manager & Customer Services
Our Solution
Helping a great business communicate with greater consistency and impact.
We began as we always do, with research, discovery and a detailed review of the business, audiences, communication channels and existing marketing activity.
It quickly became clear that there was a significant opportunity to build on the strong foundations already in place.
With more than 50% of bookings coming directly, Barnes Brinkcraft already had an engaged audience and a valuable customer database. The objective wasn’t to reinvent their marketing. It was to make better use of the channels available, create more consistent communication and reach both existing and new audiences more effectively.
Working closely with the internal marketing team, we developed a communications strategy designed to support all areas of the business whilst ensuring each audience received relevant, targeted messaging.
Our role was to provide both strategic direction and practical implementation, acting as an extension of the existing team rather than replacing any part of it.
Helping a great business communicate with greater consistency and impact.
We began as we always do, with research, discovery and a detailed review of the business, audiences, communication channels and existing marketing activity.
It quickly became clear that there was a significant opportunity to build on the strong foundations already in place.
With more than 50% of bookings coming directly, Barnes Brinkcraft already had an engaged audience and a valuable customer database. The objective wasn’t to reinvent their marketing. It was to make better use of the channels available, create more consistent communication and reach both existing and new audiences more effectively.
Working closely with the internal marketing team, we developed a communications strategy designed to support all areas of the business whilst ensuring each audience received relevant, targeted messaging.
Our role was to provide both strategic direction and practical implementation, acting as an extension of the existing team rather than replacing any part of it.
The Process
Following a comprehensive review of the communications infrastructure, channels and customer data, we developed a structured multi-brand, multi-channel communications programme.
This included:
- Monthly communications planning
- Campaign and advertising strategy
- Content gathering and content creation
- Blog development and management
- Email marketing and newsletters
- Organic social media content
- Paid advertising campaigns
- Landing page support
- Performance reporting and strategic reviews
Alongside campaign delivery, we enhanced the wider communications infrastructure, creating branded templates, improving consistency across channels and ensuring communications reflected a clear and recognisable Barnes Brinkcraft tone of voice.
We also introduced more sophisticated audience segmentation and A/B testing, allowing communications to become more relevant, targeted and effective.
Regular fortnightly meetings ensured communications activity remained aligned with wider business objectives and created a genuinely collaborative partnership between the internal and external teams.
As the relationship developed, our role expanded beyond communications delivery into researching, sourcing and supporting brand awareness initiatives, strategic reviews and wider marketing planning.
The Outcome
Fruit continue to deliver significant year on year growth
Since partnering with Barnes Brinkcraft in 2023, the communications programme has delivered significant growth in audience engagement and reach.
Key results include:
- 123% growth in Facebook followers
- Average monthly Facebook impressions increasing from 14,000 to 125,000
- Regular targeted communications to a database of more than 21,000 contacts
- Clear conversion links between campaigns and bookings – sales consistently in growth Year on year
- A YouTube channel growing to more than 300 subscribers
- Video content achieving up to 29,000 views per month
Most importantly, Barnes Brinkcraft now benefits from a strategic communications function with the capacity, structure and expertise needed to support a growing business.
By combining an experienced in-house marketing team with outsourced strategic communications support, the business has been able to increase visibility, strengthen audience engagement and create a more consistent presence across all marketing channels.
For Fruit, it’s a great example of how outsourced marketing support doesn’t always replace an internal team. Sometimes the greatest value comes from strengthening one.
